Archive | Uncategorized

The Protective Effects of Sleep for Neurodegeneration As we all know, sleep plays a critical role in brain functioning. One such function is memory, with sleep enhancing memory encoding and consolidation. Unsurprisingly, study participants deprived of sleep for 36 hours had significantly worse memory retention and poorer insight into their performance […]

Memory Disorders: A Review As we look back upon the events of the last decade, it seems fitting to also review thevarious types of memory, disorders that affect them, and what we have learned about them overthe years. We will address the neuroanatomy, symptomatology, and treatments of disordersaffecting episodic, working, procedural, […]

The French Paradox: Red Wine for a Healthy Mind? Known since 1992, the French diet is high in saturated fats, a risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), yet they have less than half the CHD-related deaths compared to the US, Sweden, and the UK. High intake of wine, thought to be 57% of alcohol consumption […]

The Gut-Brain Axis: Part 3 of 3 We recently introduced the gut-brain axis as a bidirectional communication loop. Ourbodies control, yet are in part controlled, by the living microorganisms within our gut. Anirregularity at either end of the gut-brain axis often leads to poorer health, so are there ways toensure a healthy microbiome? Welcome to […]

The Gut-Brain Axis: Part 2 of 3 As we discussed last week, our microbiome has profound impacts outside of the digestive system including the central nervous system (CNS). The interaction within theGut-Brain Axis is reciprocal; our brain communicates with our gut microbes via theenteric nervous system (ENS) consisting of over 100 million neurons responsible formodulation […]

The Gut-Brain Axis: Part 1of 3 We each have a unique and complex network of microbes living within our guts known as a microbiome. It is comprised of a dynamic ecosystem of viruses, fungi, and predominately bacteria. As humans, we have been evolving and diversifying in concert with our microbiomes for at least 15 million […]

How can art therapy benefit those with AD and other forms of dementia? Aging can be hard to embrace, but it can also be a time to try new things and explore interests that time may not have allowed in the past. Working with an art therapist to process past and current life events and […]

The Alzheimer Epidemic: Urgent Treatment Needed Now It is normal for our brains to shrink as we age but abnormal to lose basic cognitive function or brain cells in large numbers. Alzheimer’s disease kills our brain cells, known as neurons, leading to thinking and memory decline. Overtime, affected individuals will gradually lose their ability to […]

The Village Landais Alzheimer – France’s New Care Facility A 17-acre elderly care village named Landais Alzheimer is currently being built near the city of Dax nestled in southwestern France. It may appear to be a senior living community like any other, but it’s unique in that it’s a village developed entirely for men and […]

Physical Activity Helps Delay The Progression Of Alzheimer’s Disease We have all been told how important it is for our health to lead an active lifestyle. Physical activity has many positive health benefits, but research is showing that it also has a protective effect on your brain! According to a longitudinal study published in the […]